December 3, 2012 – What ‘The Economist’ Meant to Say …

“Earthly Concerns,” an Aug. 18 article in The Economist on Catholic Church finances, sharply criticizes the Church’s management of her temporal resources in the wake of the sexual-abuse scandal.

The criticism is made along three lines: Firstly, the Church does not manage her financial affairs well; secondly, she is irresponsible with regard to accounting and transparency; and, finally, the U.S. taxpayer is largely and unwittingly paying for the Church’s sexual-abuse settlements.

These three appear as questions that The Economist wishes to investigate, but instead are made as assertions with questionable supporting data.

At their base, these questions appear to be a call for reformation or improvement in the stewardship of the Church’s assets. However, in the article, it becomes clear that The Economist, unfortunately, does not understand the Church per se …